1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a peripheral device such as an image scanner, a printer, or a multifunction peripheral, an image reading apparatus, and an information processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Peripheral devices such as an image scanner, a printer, or a multifunction peripheral have widely been proliferated. To use a peripheral device connected to a computer, a device driver and application software for the peripheral device need to be installed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-334449).
On the other hand, due to the rise of awareness of security, installation of a device driver and application software is limited in some computers. For example, security measures are generally taken to allow a user who has administrator authority to install a device driver but prohibit a general user from installing a device driver and application software. This leads to an increase in inconvenient environments where a peripheral device cannot easily be used.
To improve such an inconvenient environment, there is proposed a technique of making a peripheral device usable without installing a device driver and application software in a computer (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-113702).
A plurality of different types of operating systems have become popular in the market. In some cases, one user will use a plurality of operating systems. Such a user may want to use one peripheral device on the plurality of operating systems. Even under this circumference, it would be convenient if the user could use the peripheral device without installing a device driver and application software in the computer.
However, the device driver or application software normally has a different execution file format for each operating system. That is, the device driver or application software has no compatibility with the different types of operating systems. Hence, device drivers, software, and data necessary for the plurality of operating systems need to be installed in the storage device of the peripheral device.